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Dune?

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Anyone a fan of the books? I'm struggling to make it past the first 100 pages or so, but everyone keeps telling me it's worth it as it's one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) sci-fi book of all time.
Nemo me impune lacessit

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Originally posted by: PSYCHO_DAYV
IF YOU'RE STRUGGLING WITH THE FIRST 100 PAGES THEN YOU NEED TO JUST GIVE UP. THE SERIES IS WAY TO POLITICAL AND DRY. SERIOUSLY, JUST WATCH THE SCI-FI CHANNEL MOVIE VERSION.


Actually, I enjoy poltical intrigue in my sci-fi/fantasy. That's one of the reasons I love George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. Intrigue galore. I guess what I meant was there's so much to keep track of.

I watched the first 1/2 of the sci-fi mini-series around the same time I was reading the book and found it not very good, although infinitely better than what I've heard about the theatrical movie. Speaking of which...have you heard they're releasing an EXTENDED DVD version of the theatrical release? Talk about evil...

Nemo me impune lacessit

http://ttrim.blogspot.com
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Originally posted by: JediSage
Anyone a fan of the books? I'm struggling to make it past the first 100 pages or so, but everyone keeps telling me it's worth it as it's one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) sci-fi book of all time.


yeah i donno you jsut need to get into it. i found that reading the books was a great experience. if i were you i owuld try to trudge through it, you'll be better off for it. on the same note did anyone see the children of dune mini-series i thought it was great.
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hmmm they are dry, but i found i started to enjoy them near the end.
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I read the original and loved it. It did take a while for me to get through it though. But well worth it.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
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Originally posted by: JediSage
I watched the first 1/2 of the sci-fi mini-series around the same time I was reading the book and found it not very good, although infinitely better than what I've heard about the theatrical movie. Speaking of which...have you heard they're releasing an EXTENDED DVD version of the theatrical release? Talk about evil...


You should check out the film before believing what some say about it. Being a "love it or hate it" type of movie, it's certainly not for everyone, but it has its fans. It's ultimately 25% of the film it could've been (and some say would've been had David Lynch been given final cut), but it's still damn cool.
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MTFBWY…A

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I've never sat down and watched any of the Dune stuff that's been done. I saw the first...maybe 30-45 minutes of the original movie, but I just couldn't get into it. I think I felt the narration was too repetative and I had difficulty keeping track of everything I was being told.
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Have you ever seen the extended cut SciFi used to show? From what I hear, it's basically that, but reframed to 2.35:1 (the extended TV cut was 4:3) with some minor tweaks.

I don't know what to do about it. I want the DVD, but Universal has announced it for HD-DVD as well. Unfortunately, I'm a BluRay supporter, and Universal is still sticking to their HD-DVD-only stance. I'd be kind of pissed if I bought the DVD now and a BluRay release was available later this year. Same thing for Serenity.

Universal comprises the biggest bunch of home video retards ever gathered.
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MTFBWY…A

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Originally posted by: Jay
Have you ever seen the extended cut SciFi used to show? From what I hear, it's basically that, but reframed to 2.35:1 (the extended TV cut was 4:3) with some minor tweaks.

What I've heard is that the extended cut will actually be 1.85:1. Don't know if they're masking to do this or what. I'll wait for the reviews before I invest.

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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Originally posted by: GundarkHunter
Originally posted by: Jay
Have you ever seen the extended cut SciFi used to show? From what I hear, it's basically that, but reframed to 2.35:1 (the extended TV cut was 4:3) with some minor tweaks.

What I've heard is that the extended cut will actually be 1.85:1. Don't know if they're masking to do this or what. I'll wait for the reviews before I invest.


Found this at AVS. Basically, 2.35:1 anamorphic for both cuts, with the illustrations in the extended cut cropped to 2.35:1 (examples at the link toward the bottom of the page).
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MTFBWY…A

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Thanks for the clarification. I'm wondering why they didn't simply windowbox the illustrations, but that's just me.

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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That Alan Smithee's a helluva guy!
I am fluent in over six million forms of procrastination.
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Hmm, I'll have to do some more research but I just might have to pick this one up.

I seem to recall first meeting that ADigitalMan fella through a Dune newsgroup way back around 1992, when I gave him a copy of the extended version, recorded off Sci-Fi Channel via C-band satellite onto mono VHS. My how things have changed...
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I'd like to tackle Dune some day, but right now I've got my hands full with trying to work in Larry Niven's Ringworld in between school work (not to mention several other books).

Political intrigue is hard to write. Some authors have the knack, some don't, but I say Godspeed to anyone who at least attempts it.
I'd like a qui-gon jinn please with an Obi-Wan to go.

Red heads ROCK. Blondes do not rock. Nuff said.

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Picked up the DVD today. The illustrations in the beginning suffer a bit based on what I could see, but I'll let you know how the rest of the disc is later.

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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dvd.ign.com said the video quality on this new disk is pretty bad:
Presented in an anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) transfer preserving the original theatrical format, Dune looks far worse for wear than it should, given that so many lesser movies have enjoyed spectacular remastering jobs to restore their luster. Granted, one can't expect a transfer of Star Wars proportions for a movie that grossed less than its production budget, but it appears that the DVD producers spent absolutely no time polishing up the picture and sound (more on that later) after the round of back-patting that must have ensued when they convinced Universal to release both versions of the film.
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A member at AVS, a reviewer for dvdfile.com I believe, said the French release looks much better than what we got, but they only got the theatrical cut.

I repeat: Universal comprises the biggest bunch of home video retards ever gathered. Total wankers (that part is new).
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Originally posted by: Jay
I repeat: Universal comprises the biggest bunch of home video retards ever gathered. Total wankers (that part is new).
Well, I'd like to give props to Warner Brothers for their mostly tagboard DVD cases. This things are some of the worse cases I've had to deal with.

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Still working my way through the extended cut (sneaking minutes here and there). The transfer looks fine, as far as I could tell (on my 27" flatscreen CRT). The biggest issues appear to be print damage and dirt, although I wouldn't be surprised if some of the dirt was actually photographed in during the optical processes, as that is where it shows up worst.

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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Frankly I picked up and tried to read the book several times throughout my life (my mom a huge sci-fi buff loved it) and I couldn't get into it.
After watching and loving Lynch's Dune (regular and extended) several times I was finally able to get through the book.
The reason being that the characters and the politics were so thick it was almost impenetrable, but after the movie it was like re-reading the book and already knowing the confusing names and political in-fights.

I've now read all of the ORIGINAL Dune books (yes even God Emperor *ug*, but worth reading for the fantastic wrap up to the series that follows) and now find Lynch's movie intolerable for the liberties he's taken. Go figure.

Anyone out there want to do some creative special effecting to cleanup the SciFi version and remove the painted back-drops that stand out horrifyingly on the DVD? OCP?

Dr. M